


We

by Nelliandreph



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Bake Off, F/M, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, but only a bit cos I'm soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24304891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nelliandreph/pseuds/Nelliandreph
Summary: Fred says something that shatters Ellie's calm, but Aec is there to put her back together.
Relationships: Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller
Comments: 10
Kudos: 165





	We

“Mumma?” Fred asks.

She’s sat on the couch in Hardy’s office, Fred’s face filling up the screen of her phone. It’s almost his bedtime and she hasn’t managed to get home to tuck him in. A series of burglaries across the town have kept them busy the last few weeks. They’re so close to catching the bastard, but he keeps slipping through their fingers like mist. 

“Yes, Freddie?”

“Today at school we all sat in a circle and had to say what we want to be when we grow up.”

“Oh, that’s nice. What did you say?”

“At first I thought I would like to be a ‘tective like you and Uncle Alec.” Hardy looks up at the sound of his name, pulled from the CCTV he’s been looking through. “But then I thought about how late you work and thought that I’d hate to miss Bake Off cos I was stuck at work.”

Ellie chuckles at his serious face. Fred is desperately in love with Bake Off. He likes to stand at his miniature kitchen and pretend that he’s a contestant as well.

“What did you come up with then, sweetie?”

“I still wanna help people, so I thought about being one of the people who drive the am’lances. Miss Tracy said they’re called paramedics.”

The bottom drops out of Ellie’s stomach and she nearly drops her phone. Hardy starts to get up from his chair, but she waves him off.

She forces herself to keep smiling at Fred. “I think it’s great that you want to help people, sweetie. And you’re right, it would be terrible if you had to miss Bake Off. Are you all ready for bed?”

“Yep!” He smiles proudly, nodding his head.

“Teeth brushed?”

He bares his teeth and runs a finger across them, sending a horrible staticky noise over the connection. “Squeaky clean.”

“Well done, my love. Sleep tight, sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams, Mumma.”

He hangs up and Ellie sags back into the couch, dropping her phone. She feels Hardy sit down next to her. His hand hovers near her shoulder as though he’s not sure whether or not to touch her. She wishes he would just do it, but can’t blame him. She’s brushed him off so many times before.

Instead of touching her, he stands up and grabs their coats.

“C’mon, Miller. Walk.”

She doesn’t say anything and takes her coat from him, burrowing herself into it. They make it to the seafront before her tears start to fall. This time when Hardy reaches out for her, she meets him half-way. The weight of his arm around her shoulders is solid and grounding.

“He wants to help people,” Hardy says eventually.

“I know,” Ellie sniffs. She swipes furiously at her tears. “He’s a little love. D’you know he’s always trying to help me in the kitchen? He has a little footstool and everything.”

Hardy chuckled slightly, before falling silent.

“He’s not like Joe. Wanting to do the same job doesn’t make him like Joe.”

“He is though,” she says. “They both are. Tom’s got his eyes. Fred has his smile. Tom’s walk is identical. Freddie smiles at everyone he meets.”

“And Tom has your smile. Fred has your hair and cheeks. Tom is just as stubborn as you are and Fred has your kindness.” Hardy squeezes her shoulder slightly. “They have the best of both of you, but they’re their own people. They’ll make mistakes, sure, but we’ll be there to set ‘em straight. Make sure they know what’s what.”

Ellie stops and turns to Hardy. “We?” she asks.

“Huh?” He stares down at her. His eyes are bright.

“You said ‘we’ll be there.’ We.” She points back and forth between them. “Since when are we a ‘we’?”

Hardy’s face falls. His brows drop and he looks down.

“I just thought that…” He isn’t looking at her.

“Thought that what?” She barely manages to ask. Suddenly, all the near-touches, the looks, the Kit-Kats and cups of tea, the takeaway and movie marathons all start making sense. She’d pushed them down, not daring to hope that he wanted something like that. That he wanted to be a ‘we.’

Hardy looks at her. The hand around her shoulder snakes down her arm and their fingers tangle together.

“We’re already a ‘we,’” Hardy says. “At least, I think we are. When I took wee Fred to the park last week, someone said I had an adorable son. I didn’t correct them or try to explain. I just said ‘I sure do.’ We’re already a ‘we,’ El. I’ll always be there for you and the boys. Just like you’ll always be there for me and Daiz.”

Their faces are close now. Ellie can feel Alec’s breath on her cheek. It takes away some of the November chill.

“We’ve wasted so much time, haven’t we?” She asks once she’s found her voice.

“Not watsed, no. We spent it building a ‘we.’ An us. A family.”

He closes the distance between them and his lips are soft and warm against her own. It’s chaste and sweet. Perfect. When he pulls back, she stops him and guides his lips back to her own.


End file.
